zane

"Julien?"

The boy - Evan, cowered his head and Zane took a step back. He hadn't meant to be threatening in the least but his emotions were spiralling out of his control.

Zane tried again, his tone softer and gentler. "Is he my brother?" It seemed to be the most logical explanation, the similarities, their pale hair and skin, high cheekbones and ice cold eyes people often mistook as menacing.

"Yes, well, sort of, almost." Zane smiled to himself. At least his father's usual bumbling self was back.

Evan had kept quiet the entire time, a thin grey blanket thrown over his shoulders. Zane's father stood up, adjusting the lapels of his lab coat to open the door. Zane arched a brow expectantly.

"Oh, yes, I forgot—"

Zane couldn't help but feel bad for Evan, seeing as he was used to his father being so scatterbrained, he sent the younger boy a reassuring look. It didn't appear to do much, because Evan kept quiet.

"Evan is your younger brother from a different...mother."

"Ah."

"He was at a boarding school previously — his mother had sent him there, but recently she passed away and the school sent him here."

If Evan was Zane's younger brother, then how come Zane had never seen him before? He left the subject alone, he could sense Evan's mere presence here was a touchy subject.

Dr Julien composed himself, tapping a finger on the leg of his thick rimmed glasses. "Zane, could you please show Evan around the house and then make dinner for us? He can stay in the guest bedroom, though I suppose it's his now isn't it?"

Zane nodded, their father leaving to pour himself into his work yet again. Standing up, he nervously held out a hand for Evan to take. He'd never had a younger sibling before, and he didn't exactly envy Nya and Kai for having a sibling relationship. Evan looked out the outstretched offering like an olive branch, gazing at it thoughtfully and Zane could almost see his crystal eyes softening as he placed a small hand inside Zane's.

Zane started at the front garden, logically that would be the best place to begin, so he guided Evan through the house slowly. His house was two floors, small, but two floors high. Immediately to the left, after the coat hooks was the kitchen, connected to a small dining room they hardly ever used. To the right of the door was a living room holding an old threadbare couch and an ancient TV that hadn't been turned on in years. Off that room, through a connecting door was a small library with floor to wall bookshelves, all stuffed to the point of overflowing with every type of book - hardcover, paperback, and it even boasted a rolling library ladder.

Dr Julien had snagged a random rug from a yard sale which depicted a battle scene he'd never talked about but Zane always thought it looked a bit gloomy, though the scene was faded it was clear it was filled with agony and pain. Most of it was covered up by two large armchairs and a low table anyway, so all he could see were shards of a sword, swirling darkness and a shoulder plate of golden, glowing armour.

"You can come here to read anytime you like. Father and I sometimes have tea in the library before bed, I suppose we could always find another chair for you."

Evan didn't respond, only ran a finger over the leather spines of some of the more expensive and worn volumes.

"Classics," Zane said, feeling the need to explain, "Alice in Wonderland, Oliver Twist, To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and Prejudice."

His brother nodded, pulling out Oliver Twist from its precarious perch balanced on top of Einstein: A Discovery.

"You can read it." Zane felt weird giving someone who supposedly was his brother permission to use something that really was his as well. "You can read anything in here."

Evan let a small smile grow on his lips, cradling Oliver Twist closer to his chest. Zane proceeded to show him to his father's bedroom at the end of the hallway, and Zane's bedroom on the same side as the kitchen, and the guest room opposite it. Zane managed to convince Evan to leave Oliver Twist on the bedside table, though it was an awkward conversation as Zane was the only one speaking and Evan silently shook his head a lot.

"I was planning on making some mushroom soup with chicken tenders and some baked vegetables."

When Evan didn't respond, Zane decided to take a different approach.

"Can you grab the butter and mushrooms from the fridge?" Evan was already moving towards the stainless steel fridge when Zane remembered to use his own feet. His ankle was a bit sore, but most of the pain was gone; it was reduced to a background throb. From one of the higher cabinets, Zane brought down a massive binder full of printed recipes. He had memorized most of the recipes, a feat he was quite proud of, but Evan didn't know it yet and Zane still felt uncomfortable giving out 'orders'. Zane was sauteing the onion in butter and oil whilst Evan was carefully slicing mushrooms on the chopping board next to him when the flame under the pan fizzled out.

He bent his neck to peer underneath at the burner to find a coat of ice choking the burner's metal prongs. Zane frowned and brushed off the thin layer of ice, undisturbed by the unnatural cold that would have chilled anyone else to the bone. Evan scampered off to his room for a few minutes without a word while Zane tossed the mushrooms with flour to thicken the soup, adding thyme and stock to get the flavour going. When it was boiling, he sprinkled in salt, pepper and crumbled bouillon cubes, waiting for Evan to return.

Covering the pot with a lid so it could simmer, he began preparing the chicken tenders and vegetables as Evan re-entered the kitchen, his cheeks pink. Zane didn't question his disappearance, only tapped on the title for the vegetables and hoped Evan wouldn't chop his fingers off. The two worked in a strange, but mute silence, methodically moving through the instructions and timing everything perfectly. Zane had to restart the flames on the burners a few times because the ice was creeping up on the flames and extinguishing them. Making a mental note to ask his father about that, he stirred in the cream for the soup, juggling the carton and lid in each hand.

They finally sat down for dinner in an oddly formal arrangement at the dining table. The younger boy had scrounged up an old tablecloth that was moth eaten at the edges, but Evan had folded it in a way that disguised the sides. The bowls were chipped and cracked from the same set as the mugs, outlined in a navy blue, the rest a creamy colour slowly fading to grey.

"Let's eat my boys!" grinned his father, swirling his soup around. Zane didn't miss the tiny smile on Evan's face and couldn't help but let his own grow.

lloyd

Lloyd Garmadon rarely wished for anything, but right now, he was about to make an exception.

Morro had invited himself around for dinner.

As it was, his mother barely made enough to support the two of them, and Lloyd's part time job was that little bit of extra money they cherished and saved for his college fund.

Misako was nothing short of a benevolent host, something Lloyd thought was possibly a weakness. She was too kind, too forgiving, too nice. Perhaps that's why his father had fallen for her. From the few pictures on their walls that actually included a young Misako in it - most of them embarrassingly depicted baby Lloyd sporting a bowl cut Kai and Nya never ceased teasing him for.

In all honesty, the Smiths were basically a second family to the two Garmadons despite the major gap between their wealth, Ray and Maya had been friends with Misako long before Lloyd, Nya and Kai were even thoughts in the back of their minds. He also suspected they may have been friends with his father too, but as usual, that tabooed topic was left alone for Lloyd to muse about in his own time.

He'd grown up playing with Nya and Kai since they were babies, toddling about together and spending a lot of time at the Smith's private beach. They got along quite well, Lloyd being in between Kai and Nya's ages so growing up they had a lot of similar interests. Funnily enough, the siblings had snuck into most of young Lloyd's pictures, usually a blur of brown and raven hair zooming around in the background.

"Lloyd, could you please pass the salad?"

Lloyd blinked slowly, pulling himself out of happy memories to pass his mother the bowl, avoiding Morro's sneering gaze. His cousin, how exactly they were related was fuzzy, but Morro's infuriating presence had been there his whole life, and before he found out he was bullying his friend, they had a tenuous bar between them which Lloyd only kept up because Jay seemed very insistent on it.

There was also another problem. Morro transformed into the human embodiment of an angel whenever he was around Misako, leaving Lloyd to constantly be compared to his cousin.

"Lloyd, please pass the salad." Lloyd gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"It's right in front of you." He snapped back, stabbing the greens on his plate with his fork.

"Lloyd." warned his mother in a low voice. He sighed, pushing the bowl closer to Morro with his fingertips even though it was practically on Morro's plate.

Dinner was spent in strained silence, Misako attempting to make small talk which Lloyd openly ignored, smearing the store-bought sauce around his plate. Morro was left in the tiny living room to watch TV, so Lloyd opted to do the dishes instead of having to look at his cousin's face. The kitchen was the same size as the living room, like every other room in the house, it was tiny. But it was home. Soapy water was running down the front of his jumper as he scrubbed furiously at the hardened cheese left on Morro's plate.

With the dishes set to dry, Lloyd had no other choice but to return to the living room and watch the telly with Morro. He took the only other piece of furniture apart from the couch - a wooden chair which was uncomfortable for his bum but he'd rather sit there than next to Morro. Lloyd flicked through Realm Raider half heartedly, his eyes glazing over the pictures. He frowned as his mother came in with a tub of very expensive ice cream and spoon, handing it to Morro who replied with an angelic smile.

Lloyd screwed his eyes shut, imagining red devil horns sprouting out the top of Morro's head when they snapped open at the weird noises the TV was making. The images were flickering in and out as glitches spread across the screen in multicoloured bars. The house was getting warmer as well, then it was over taken by a sudden chill and a deep rumbling underneath.

The strange occurrences stopped a minute later, leaving Lloyd and Morro to exchange fearful looks.

They may not have been BFF's, but the cousins could tell when something was wrong.

Misako wandered in, retying the ends of her braid.

"Did you boys feel that?"

Lloyd nodded, thinking of the only plausible reason. "Must have been the power. Maybe someone cut the line."

Morro bobbed his head in agreement as well, and Lloyd blinked in surprise. "Thank you for dinner. I best be going now."

Misako smiled warmly as Morro picked up his coat. "Come back anytime dear."

"Please don't." Lloyd muttered softly to himself.

Morro's hand was resting on the doorknob when the door flew open with a mighty bang!, sending the bully flying down the hallway to land on his butt. Lloyd sniggered, but it soon disappeared at the figure standing in the doorway.

His father.

A/N: so I tried to get out of pt interviews which did not work...anyways, I can't wait for the weekend. i hope yall like the new cover (wattpad peeps) and the header. uhhh i pretty much said what I need to say in my earlier announcement. ooo yeah, drop some names for good ninjago fics!